Hans von Spakovsky withdraws FEC nomination

Pleading financial hardship, controversial GOP nominee Hans von Spakovsky has withdrawn his name for a seat on the Federal Election Commission.

In a letter to President Bush today, von Spakovsky said the delay in considering his nomination "has been extremely hard on my family, and quite frankly, we do not have the financial resources to continue to wait until this matter is resolved."

Von Spakovsky also said that he agreed with his former colleague Robert Lenhard "that the FEC needs to reconstituted — the agency that is tasked with policing our campaign finance system needs to operational during a presidential election year. The opposition to my nomination (however unfair) is preventing that from happening."

Democrats have refused for months to bring von Spakovsky's nomination up for a vote, objecting to his actions while at the Justice Dept., including his support for voter ID laws and Georgia redistricting plan that has been rejected by career Justice staffers.

Bush and the Republicans, though, refused to relent on the nomination, leading to the stalemate that has left the FEC without a quorum since Jan. 1 and unable to function. Von Spakovsky's withdrawal will likely clear the way for an agreement between Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that will allow the FEC to get to business, said Democratic and GOP sources.

White House officials said that Bush "reluctantly accepted" von Spakovsky's decision to withdraw and praised his work at DOJ and the FEC. Von Spakovsky was recess appointed by Bush to the FEC.

Today, President Bush reluctantly accepted Hans von Spakovsky’s request for his nomination to serve on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to be withdrawn," said Emily Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman. " Although Mr. von Spakovsky’s good faith legal positions have been vindicated... Senate Democrats repeatedly refused to consider the facts surrounding his record. Instead, Senate Democrats put partisanship ahead of a fully functioning, bipartisan FEC. President Bush is disappointed that partisan politics will prevent this good man from continuing to serve our country.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he was disappointed von Spakovsky's decision, and he blamed Democrats for the stalemate that paralyzed the FEC for the last five months.

“I am deeply disappointed by the decision of Hans von Spakovsky to withdraw his nomination to the Federal Election Commission," McConnell said in a statement. "Senate Democrats set a troubling precedent with their partisan obstruction of a highly qualified nominee to the FEC — something that has never been done during my time in the Senate, regardless of who was in the majority. Senate Democrats have politicized one more function of the legislative branch that had traditionally been a partisan-free zone."